We are: Gabriel Kreindler Mihai Moldovan Andrei Costescu Cezar Chirilă

Project Manager: Corina Achinca

At , we seek to provide professional and mission critical database solutions for any type of activity.

We achieve our objective by building intelligent systems that help businesses efficiently connect their various parts.

The Sigma Foundation for European Integration is a non-profit organization that encourages pre-university education at all levels. Its programs consist of contests, supplementary classes and camps. FIES’s projects include The European Kangaroo Applied The European Kangaroo Applied Mathematics Contest, Mathematics Contest, an economical simulation contest, INVEST,INVEST, and educational and cultural oriented campscamps. Students from all over the country engage in these programs. FIES has a major impact on the Romanian educational system due to its large test center network (3800 centers) and high contest participation rate (over 247.000 contestants). Its activity is also supported by the Ministry of Education and Research (MER).

The Sigma Foundation for European IntegrationStr. General Berthelot nr. 38, sector 1, Bucureşti

Tel.: +4021 313 96 42, E-mail: fies@home.ro,

Contact information:

Personal participation in FIES’s activities both as contestants and as volunteers.

Because of this involvement, we developed a special interestspecial interest for the diverse activities of FIES. At the same time, we became acquainted with some features of the organization scheme, from the student’s point of view.

Kangaroo Contest website: www.matematicasicangurul.roThe site contains relevant information regarding contest registration, testing procedures and prizes.

Mr. Boris Singer Position: PresidentMrs. Corina Cârtoaje Position: Vice - President

Interviews with:

Mrs. Cârtoaje and Mr. Singer considerately answered all our questions, and helped us become acquainted with FIES through two interviews

At the first interview, we gained insight into FIES’s interior configuration; we collected information about:

all of FIES’s activities and structures. In addition, we understood which activities are most important to FIES; specific procedures regarding contests, classes and camps; the data FIES needs to store and the information FIES needs to analyze (such as reports, statistics etc.);

During the second interview, we received feedback on an early stage of our project:

our interviewees confirmed our project’s basic structure; they suggested a more accurate representation for the relationships between students and FIES, according to their business needs; we documented some of our assumptions and made the required modifications.

Reliable database able to handle concentrated activity during certain short periods of time (e.g. when results for contests must be quickly made available)

Keep complete records of undergoing and past activities persons involved (students, teachers, employees) sponsors and sponsorships

Easy data input and complex information output

Generate comprehensive reports and statistics regarding: Participants (e.g.: test scores, class attendance, problems solved) Employment statistics (e.g.: activities, job history, wages,

qualification) Class (e.g.: popularity, student results) Teacher (e.g.: problems proposed, classes taught)

The possibility for further development of on-line services

Generate analysis Manage a complete & secure data archive

Control the investments

Review operation flow

Optimize the relationships

Commitment

• Dispersed DB• Inefficient data gathering

Present

Sigma Foundation

Create a complete and centralized database

• Centralized DB• Perform complex processes of input data

Retrieve data from all factors involved

Reduce input time

Process data faster

Produce reports faster

Administration andContest – Class - Camp

Sponsor - Contest

Student - Contest

Student - Class

Administration

Test Centers

Sponsors

Problems

Administrated tests

Contests

Students

Problems

Camps

Create comprehensive statistics

Info. for sponsors

Info. for administration

Info. for MEC

IN: Sponsorships

IN: Participation fee

OUT: wages

OUT: prizes

Steps to achieving our commitment to FIES:

CONTEST#* id* name* date* grade* subjectº participation fee

CLASS#* id* date * timeº syllabus * topicº web site

CAMP#* id* location* start date* end date* costº description

SPONSOR#* id* nameº addressº phone no

STUDENT#* id* name* address* phone noº email* school* grade

EMPLOYEE#* SSN* name* birth date* address* phone noº email

CENTER#* id* name* address* phone no* contact person

TEACHER#* id* name* address* phone noº emailº specialization

PROBLEM#* id* subject* text* solutionº difficulty level

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the first stage of developmentthe most significant entitiesthe most important relationshipsclear and intuitive layoutcentral activities highlightedwill be further developed to comply with all design and layout norms.

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TEACHER #* id* name * address * phone noº email º specialization

CONTEST#* id* name* date* grade* subjectº descriptionº participation fee

TESTCENTER#* id* name* address* phone no* contact person

REGISTRATION* no of studentsº proof of payment º comments

SPONSORSHIP# contract no* dateº valueº descriptionº conditions

PROBLEM#* id* subject* text* solutionº difficulty level

LOCATION #* id* address* room no* contact personº comments

CLASS#* id* date* time* topicº syllabusº website

CAMP#* id* location* start date* end date* costº description

ASSIGNMENT#* contract no* description* payment

EMPLOYEE#* SSN* name* birth date* address* phone noº email

SPONSOR#* id* nameº addressº phone no

TEST QUESTION* question number* maximum points

STUDENT #* id* name * address * school* phone no º email * grade

CLASS ENROLLMENT* was presentº special notes

CONTEST ENROLLMENT* was presentº special notes

PRIZE* typeº sum of money CAMP

ENROLLMENT* was presentº special notesº proof of payment

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT#* contract no * wage* start date º end date

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Each student enrolls for a contest at a test center that takes care of individual fee payments and the actual contest organization. This information is kept in the Contest enrollment entity.For each contest, centers have registration contracts with FIES that include the number of students registered at that center and information about financial matters. Because more than one contest can take place at a certain test center, the Contest Enrollment entity needs to relate to the Contest entity.Employees might change their job over time. This information is stored in the Employment Contract entity.FIES relies on volunteer work; volunteers have jobs with the wage attribute set to “0”.

All the problems submitted by teachers need to be stored although some of them may never be used as questions in contests.The Test Question entity keeps track of all the problems selected for certain contests and the Question Response entity tracks each student’s answers to these questions.

Further constrains must be imposed on the database: A student must participate in a contest in order to win a prize; Two different contests cannot have the same name, date and grade attributes; The database will only store information about the students and teachers who

have participated in FIES’s activities.

Some special attributes were used in the ERD: “special notes”, “comments”, “description”, “syllabus”, “conditions” are memo fields; “was present” is a logical attribute; it can be either true or false; STUDENT – grade is a volatile attribute. It has to be updated each year.

FIES occasionally needs to store notes about a student’s activity within a class, contest or camp. Such notes are used to set apart exceptional students.Employees have jobs and assignments. A job is a general activity while an assignment refers to a brief period of time and a specific task.The teacher who holds a class is the only person responsible for it. FIES does not need to assign employees to classes.A student can refuse to participate in an awarded camp.Students can participate in camps even if they did not win them as prizes.Sponsorships are made for specific activities of FIES.

provides the solution for many of the problems confronting the Sigma Foundation:

1. We have created a flexible database that matches FIES’s business needs

2. Our solution dramatically reduces the time required for the operation flow to take place

3. We fully understood the company’s requirements and created logical links between its elements

4. Our system keeps records of all FIES’s activities5. The infrastructure we created allows reliable data storage and

effective archive queries6. Our customer will be able to efficiently process data and create

diverse and complex reports for current and prospective sponsors, M.E.R., the administration or any other interested party

7. FIES will be able keep track of its received funds and its expenses